Ezio Auditore da Firenze: Guardian of Life
by OccamsChainsaw15
Summary: A mashup of Ezio Auditore and Assassin's Creed lore with the DC Green Lantern universe, what Lantern Corps would he belong to? Or maybe, he could belong to all of them.


_So I decided to write a new short story, another crossover as I love mixing the lore of different worlds. This story relies pretty heavily on Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations stories, including side missions, and some of the lore of the different lantern groups from the DC comics universe. I know that probably limits the amount of readers that will enjoy this story, but hopefully those of you that are AC and Green Lantern fanatics will enjoy! This is the first of probably 3-4 parts, what I DON'T plan on doing is making an entire long story about Ezio as a lantern. If anything this is more of a epilogue and reflection of Ezio's life, and what motivates and pushes him. _

* * *

_Is this, death? _Ezio thought into the eternal void of white. Everywhere he turned, he saw nothing but glaring white returning his gaze.

"It is only death if you so choose it, Ezio," a voice echoed back from somewhere in the never-ending space. It was raspy and frail, as if a man decades older than Ezio spoke.

"Who are you?"

The voice scoffed, "The question is, who are you? Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Master Assassin, the Mentor of an entire Brotherhood, husband to a loving wife, father to blissful children, son of a murdered father, brother of murdered brothers, ancestor of the one that will either save mankind or be its downfall, but above all else, _The Prophet."_

Ezio planted his feet firmly into whatever mystical surface he stood upon and reached for his sword, only to realize he was unarmed. He was still in the same plain robes he wore to his final visit of the same square that his family had been wrongly hung decades before. The robes he had worn when he died. _I should be dead, yet how do I still draw breath? _

"You draw breath only so long as you choose to do so. That is the choice that you Assassins cherish so, is it not? The choice of life, freedom, I will not take that from you here.

Ezio's anger and confusion reached its breaking point, "Who are you? What do you want with me? Why can I not die and join my family in the world beyond this?"

He was met with silence, the white void remained unmoving. Then, as if boomed from every corner of existence, "Very well."

Ezio blinked and suddenly stood in complete darkness. He reached his hands out, touching nothing. He stomped his boot against the floor, feeling the hard earth beneath it. _Stone, so I am returned to life, or so it would seem._

The voice spoke once more, "My name, is Saturn."

Ezio's mind suddenly flashed with the memories of another Roman god he had met nearly a lifetime ago. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. She had treated him like he was but a reflection in a pond, she spoke _through _him. _To Desmond,_ the old Italian reminded himself.

"The god of time, one of your kind has spoken with me before. My life is at its end, I have conveyed whatever message you wanted of me to Desmond, let me be at peace," Ezio stated boldly into the darkness, to wherever the glowing painting of the god lay hidden.

"Yes, my granddaughter. Her father, Jupiter, and his queen, Juno, will one day speak with your descendant," the raspy voice spoke, seemingly coming from all corners of the chamber at once.

"Those Who Came Before…" Ezio remembered Minerva's words.

"Yes, but I was not a part of their civilization when it crumbled into oblivion. My children were arrogant, cruel, and fickle. They did not learn from my mistakes, nor those of my parents. I am more ancient then you can comprehend. I helped bring about the dawn of this existence, the dawn of man, among others, and yet I have brought you, but a humble human, from the departure of life to this place."

Ezio's brows raised in bewilderment and irritation. Even as an old man, he still retained that fiery temper that had defined his youth. "What do you want with me? Even if I could help, I'm old now. I do not have the freedom or body of my younger self. My heart is weak, and my bones weaker."

The voice sounded sure of itself, "Ah yes, but I do not require your heart or your bones. What I require is eternal, powerful, uncontrollable."

Ezio's heart sank in his chest. "My soul?"

After a minute of silence, the voice replied, "Yes."

"What would you want with an old man's soul?"

Saturn's voice remained solemn, "That, is up to you."

Suddenly, seven different fires lit at once on the far end of the chamber. These were no normal flames however, each one was on a pedestal, and burned a different color. There was a green one, red, yellow, orange, violet, blue, and indigo. Ezio took a step back, "Enough with your sorcery and illusions. Speak plainly spirit, I have grown tired of riddles and lies in my old age."

"You are only sixty-five, that is but a single blade in the ocean of rolling fields of grass that is my lifetime. You do not yet know the unimaginable scope of life in this universe, but I offer you the chance to. You asked me to speak plainly Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and I shall. You were not truly given a choice in your younger years of whether to join the Assassin Brotherhood or not. Your family was murdered and you were angry, scared, and vengeful. You had but one path before you that led to your enemies' demise and your continued existence so you took it. You did more for the Assassins than any man before you, save for one, and through you their existence in this world became assured for centuries to come. I now give you the chance to join another brotherhood, of sorts. Only this one is not limited to the fundamentally limited scope of mankind's continued freedom from the monstrous Templars, no, in this you would become a beacon of hope for the entire _universe._ Should you accept, you will become so much more than a man, an assassin, a Mentor, could become. You will become a _Guardian _of life itself."

Ezio could not understand the phantom's intent. He was old now, decades past his prime. "Why me?" was all he could muster.

The voice sounded pleased, "Touch the flame, and I will show you."

Ezio looked to the seven glowing embers only thirty paces in front of him. He stood for a while, unsure of whether he could will himself to move. He thought of his dear Sofia and what she would tell him were she here. She would smile, her cheeks dimpling as her flawless white teeth glistened in the flames' light. "What is one more adventure?"

He would retort, "But I have retired from the life of adventure and danger, I only wished to be a father and husband."

His vision of her glowing face began to fade, "And you were, my love, but now it seems you must heed the call to action once more."

The old Assassin missed the warmth of her kiss against his cheek. Without realizing it, he was already standing before the violet flame. He stared at his hand for a moment, noticing all of the wrinkles and sagged edges that had come with age. He remembered the days of his youth, running across the rooftops with Federico, sneaking out of Cristina's chambers early in the morning, that life felt like a story he read long ago, as if it were not even he that lived it. _Very well Sofia, one more time I shall push forward, the memory of our love hardening my resolve. _

Ezio Auditore da Firenze pushed his hand into the light, and at once his eyes burned and flashed violet. When they opened, he was no longer in the dark tomb with the seven pedestals, he was in a bed chamber, with two figures rolling around in the sheets. He glanced at his hand, amazed that it had not been burned by the mystical fire. Ezio glanced up, and was taken aback when he heard a voice he remembered from many decades ago. "Ezio, you must go, please my love, or we will be caught for sure!" Cristina Vespucci whispered. Suddenly he remembered this room, he spun his head around, taking in his surroundings. The candles, her dress tossed carelessly aside on the floor, and lastly, the young Florentine nobleman that emerged from the sheets beside her. Ezio had forgotten what his younger self had looked like. The dark chestnut hair, his youthful and unscarred body, but most of all, the carefree joyful expression painted across his face.

Before Ezio could truly take in the impossible situation he was in, all attention was drawn to her door as Cristina's father shouted, "Cristina! Cristina! Wake up! Your tutor will be here soon! Come my daughter… is it really so terrible tha-" Before the young lovers could react, he burst open the door with a gleeful smile, that soon soured into a furious rage. "Son of a bitch! What is this?!"

Ezio threw on his pants and shirt as he leapt out the window. He called out behind him, "Forgive me, sir! I beg your pardon!"

The older Ezio remained in the room, watching her father shout empty threats down to the street below. He took notice of Cristina's face, full of embarrassment, surprise, and happiness.

Ezio blinked again and was suddenly in an empty courtyard on a sunny afternoon. He immediately recognized the architecture around him and knew he was still in Florence. A shuffling arose behind him and he turned to see another younger visage of himself, only this time he was cradling a wounded, older Cristina. Ezio remembered this moment all too well, it was when Girolamo Savonarola had taken control of Florence, well into Ezio's assassin years. The man's fanatics had raided Cristina's home, killed her husband, and gravely injured her. As Ezio watched his younger self slowly lower her to the ground, his heart could only ache having to watch his first love die a second time. "Cristina hold on, you're going to be alright, I will get you to a doctor," the younger Ezio assured as Cristina was caught in a fit of coughing.

"No Ezio, I don't think I am…" she faintly whispered.

"No!" Ezio shouted in angered helplessness before turning to pleading, "Don't go… Stay with me, Cristina."

The beautiful young woman looked up into her rescuer's pale eyes and smiled. "Ezio, don't you know, I've always been with you." She opened her clutched hand to reveal the pendant Ezio had given to her years ago as a token of his unending love for her. "I wish we…could have had, a second chance…" She murmured as life slipped from her, and her eyes closed for the final time.

All the younger Ezio could do was run his fingers through her hair one final time, "Requiescat in pace, my love." His younger self remained on the ground cradling her body, unable to let go.

"You had loved her for a very long time," Saturn finally spoke. Ezio looked around him, but still remained unable to find the voice's source. "Yes, I was nearly forty when she died, but a young, arrogant boy when she first claimed my heart."

"But it would not be the last time you loved," Saturn affirmed as Ezio's eyes burned violet once more. When he opened his eyes this time, he was not in Florence. Before him were the rolling hills and walls of Constantinople. The people bustled past him at every side, but his attention focused on a pair lying down in the grass amongst the commotion. There, a beautiful young woman with hair as red as dawn was being handed flowers by an old, gray-haired traveler who had no rightful place being in such a wondrous woman's company. They lay on a blanket, with a basket full of wine and food beside them. Even after thirteen years had passed since this moment, Sofia was still just as angelic as he had remembered.

"You are a mystery, Ezio Auditore," she chimed. The Ezio lying beside her lifted his hand to his chest, "I'm sorry, I do not mean to be."

"It is fine, it's attractive," she assured. _I do not remember her being so transparent. _

"It looks delicious," Ezio said gazing upon the lunch she had prepared. During these years, Ezio had gained the golden eyes of a true Master Assassin, one that had mastered the assassin's vision. Now in his retirement however, he had lost them years ago. As soon as he had finished his business in Constantinople, he would forgo all ties to the Brotherhood, instead committing his life to her.

"Why thank you!" she exclaimed. She began to lean in to him, her intentions clear as she searched for a kiss. Ezio's younger self however, had failed to notice and pressed on with business. "Any luck with the final code?"

_That must be the reason I do not remember her motives being so plain, even in my wiser years I was still blinded to simple truths. I truly was an idiota. _

Sofia was taken aback, and withdrew her advance.

"The women you coaxed into falling for you were always quite beautiful it would seem," Saturn spoke.

Ezio smiled as he stared down at the two soon to be husband and wife laying in the warm summer air. "This was the moment I fell in love with her. She was so beautiful, so caring, always able to forgive my bold headedness and ease to succumb to anger."

"Yes, love is a powerful motivator. Your love for Cristina drove you away from Florence towards Rome after her death, and your love for Sofia reminded you there was a life beyond the Brotherhood, a role to play beyond being the Mentor."

Ezio remembered the last smile he ever saw grace Sofia's lips the day of his death in Florence. _I truly was blessed. _

Saturn continued, "The love you felt throughout your life can be a powerful weapon. It can be the single emotion that saves you from yourself. Reach out your hand Ezio."

Ezio looked once more around him for the voice's source, but eventually forfeited and stretched out his hand. His left ring finger began to glow, as a ring materialized and slid down it. A multi-pointed star was engraved into it, and it was the same color as the flame, violet.

"You have great love in your heart. Welcome to the Star Sapphires."


End file.
